Bible: 2 Samuel 17

The Death of Ahithophel

17:1AhithophelsaidtoAbsalom, “Let me pickout twelvethousandmen. ThenI will goand pursueDavidthis very night.17:2When I catch upwith1 him hewill be exhaustedand wornout.2 I will routhim, and the entirearmythatis withhim will flee. I will killonlythe king17:3and will bringthe entirearmybacktoyou. In exchange for the life of the manyouare seeking, you will get back everyone.3The entirearmywillreturn unharmed.”4

17:4This seemedlike a good ideato Absalomand to allthe leaders5of Israel.17:5But Absalomsaid, “Callfor6 Hushaithe Arkite, and let’s hearwhathe has to say.”717:6So HushaicametoAbsalom. Absalomsaidtohim, “Hereis whatAhithophelhas advised. Should we followhis advice? Ifnot, what would yourecommend?”

17:7HushairepliedtoAbsalom, “Ahithophel’sadviceis notsound thistime.”817:8Hushaiwent on to say, “Youknowyour fatherand his men– they are soldiersand are as dangerousas a bearout in the wildthat has been robbed of her cubs.9Your fatheris an experiencedsoldier; he will notstay overnightwiththe army.17:9At thisvery momenthe ishidingout in oneof the cavesorin some othersimilarplace. If it should turn out that he attacks our troopsfirst,10whoever hearsaboutit will say, ‘Absalom’sarmyhasbeenslaughtered!’17:10If thathappens eventhe bravest soldier– one whois lion-hearted– will virtuallymelt away. ForallIsraelknowsthatyour fatheris a warriorand that those whoare withhim are brave.17:11My advicethereforeis this: Let allIsraelfromDantoBeer Sheba– in numberlikethe sandbythe sea! – be mustered to you, and you lead them personally into battle.17:12We willcomeagainsthimwhereverhe happens to be found. We will descendonhim like the dewfallsonthe ground. Neither he noranyof the menwho are with him will be spared alive – not one of them!17:13Ifhe regroupsina city, allIsraelwill take upropestothat cityand dragit downtothe valley, so thatnota single pebblewill be leftthere!”

17:17Now Jonathanand Ahimaazwere stayingin En Rogel. A female servantwould goand informthem, and theywould then goand informKingDavid. It was notadvisablefor them to be seengoinginto the city.17:18But a young mansawthem on one occasion and informedAbsalom. So the twoof them quicklydepartedand wenttothe houseof a manin Bahurim. There was a wellin his courtyard, and they got downin it.17:19His wifethen tookthe coveringand spreadit overthe top of the welland scatteredsome grainoverit. Noone was awareof whatshe had done.